Friday, February 18, 2011

Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Quesadillas

I've expressed in previous posts that I'm not a huge fan of more authentic Mexican food, but I do love fajitas and quesadillas--they were two of my biggest pregnancy cravings! Prior to having kids, my husband and I used to go out to dinner at least a few times a month, but since the two little rugrats have arrived, it's been a bit more challenging to eat out. Not only do they get antsy, which makes it difficult to relax and enjoy dinner, but it's rather costly to take a family of four out to dinner these days! Short of going to the Chinese buffet on "kids eat free" night, we very seldom go anywhere else. I saw that Cassie (of Cassie Craves) had posted a recipe for quesadillas that quickly caught my eye! Not only do I love quesadillas, but how can you possibly go wrong with combining chicken, bacon and avocado?!? I took her general concept to use those three key ingredients and altered the recipe a little in terms of ingredients and the cooking method, but oh, my...these were delicious and certainly as good (if not better) than any I had eaten out! I tried to estimate about how much each quesadilla cost to prepare and I think I figured it was around $4-$4.50/each, which is probably less than half of what you'd pay to eat them out! Plus, they were SUPER hearty the way that I made them and I honestly couldn't eat more than half of one...they were really rich! I did serve Spanish rice as a side dish, so honestly-speaking, I would think that if you prepared them as heartily as I did, they could easily feed 3 people...especially if you serve them with a side dish! Also, I baked my bacon, which is now my preferred way to make it! Not only is it a bit healthier than frying, but it tastes just as good to me and you don't have to deal with the mess! I used a grill pan for my chicken and a griddle to cook the quesadillas, but if you don't have either of those, you can always grill your chicken on an actual grill or you may want to refer to Cassie's recipe, as I believe she actually fried her bacon and then cooked her chicken in the same pan. As for the griddle, you could always just use a frying pan/skillet! One last thing: I did leave the avocado off of my husband's, because he had his mind made up that he didn't care much for avocado, but I left a little separate and when he tried it with his quesadilla, he said "it honestly isn't too bad"--which means "I actually like this, but am not going to give you the satisfaction of admitting that you may have been right all of these years". :) Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bacon on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until crispy. (Place on paper towel to drain, after removing from oven).

While bacon is cooking, pound chicken breasts to 1/3 inch thickness and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place in greased grill pan and cook for approximately 5-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink on the inside and juices run clear.

Remove chicken from pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Add diced onion to grill pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or until slightly tender, stirring frequently; remove from heat. Cut chicken and bacon into small pieces/chunks.

Preheat griddle to 250 degrees. Butter four tortillas on one side and place two on heated griddle, butter side down. Top each tortilla with cheese, chicken, bacon, onion and avocado, dividing the chicken, bacon, onion and avocado equally between the two. Sprinkle with more cheese and top each with another flour tortilla (butter side up). Cook each quesadilla until browned and crispy and cheese is completely melted, approximately 3-4 minutes on each side. ***To flip, my husband put a plate over the quesadilla and carefully used a spatula to flip each one onto the plate and then back on the griddle to cook the other side.***

They were great, Cassie, and thank YOU for the idea!!! I could definitely understand why you'd be wanting to make them again, soon...I'm sure we'll be the same way!!! As for my husband, he cracks me up! He's WAY too stubborn to admit that he could actually like something that I've been suggesting he try for YEARS! Growing up, his Mom fixed him a rotation of maybe 3-4 different meals...she never encouraged him to try new things. Since we've been together, he's been way more open-minded and ends up liking the majority of things that I suggest he tries ;)

"I actually like this, but am not going to give you the satisfaction of admitting that you may have been right all of these years". lol. That's how my husband is too! He's a recent fan of avacado as well, thanks to my chicken soft tacos. : ) These sound absolutely wonderful!

About Me

If you were to look up the word "picky" in the dictionary, you would see a picture of my husband off to the left. Growing up, I was exposed to all sorts of different foods and encouraged to experiment with different flavors, but after meeting my husband, I somewhat locked myself into an eight to ten meal rotation and was reluctant to deviate. I have since given birth to two of the least picky eaters on the face of the Earth, thus inspiring me to transform my cooking style. I know many people, like myself, lead such hectic lives, so I strive to find recipes that are quick and easy--especially those that you can whip up with ingredients that you ordinarily have on hand!
A bit about me...I married my husband, Marcus, on June 1, 2003 and we welcomed our son Jacob on March 22, 2005. Our daughter, Madeline, was born on March 1, 2008. I stay home with the kids for the most part, but also work occasional shifts as a registered nurse at a local hospital. I truly hope you enjoy my blog. A special "thank you" to my sister, Sarah, for giving me the idea! Her creativity is hard to live up to, but I'm a very determined person and hope to make her proud :)